Cairo, Mar 12: A deadly drone strike hit a secondary school and a health care centre in Shukeiri, White Nile province, southern Sudan on Wednesday, killing at least 17 people, most of them schoolgirls, and injuring at least 10 others. Among the dead were two teachers and a health care worker. Three girls sustained serious injuries; two underwent surgery at Douiem Hospital, while the third was evacuated to Khartoum.
Medical officials and the Sudan Doctors Network blamed the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for the attack. The RSF has not issued a statement. The village had no military presence, highlighting the civilian nature of the victims and the indiscriminate impact of the strike.
Sudan has been engulfed in a nearly three-year war since April 2023, when tensions between the Sudanese military and the RSF escalated into full-scale fighting in Khartoum and other regions. The conflict has killed more than 40,000 people, though aid organizations suggest the toll may be far higher. Fighting has been concentrated in Kordofan, where drone attacks and paramilitary violence have been frequent.
The war has been marked by atrocities, including mass killings, sexual violence, and other crimes investigated by the International Criminal Court as potential war crimes and crimes against humanity.